Perry Mason and Ironside ... and H50

[Mr. Mike]

I have never been a big fan of Perry Mason, to me it is "always the same schtick," sort of like Columbo, which I can stand even less.

It always drove me crazy that on Perry I could never figure out who "did it," as per the huge reveal at the end of each show, it was always some insignificant character.

This show didn't seem to me to be very well written, or maybe it was TOO well written. It was like they overwrote the show and then edited out stuff before it was broadcast.

A while ago I was told about a Perry episode which was very similar in some ways to an H50 episode. You can read about this here:

https://fiveohomepage.com/5-0log10.htm#219

(the Perry stuff starts after all of the H50 stuff is done).

There were a lot of things about this show that were bad, aside from the script, which drove me crazy, I spent sooooo much time on this!!

No idea how this episode rates compared to the average Perry show.

I wonder if Raymond Burr had any input into the Perry shows, how "complicated" they were or whatever.

I am finding with Ironside, most of the shows are pretty bad, there are facts which are left out and other twists and turns with the plot which don't make sense, even if you think hard about them.

I don't know if Burr had any input into the writing of the Ironside shows either. I got a couple of biographies of Burr out of the library, they contain interesting facts about the show.

Here is an example of something "not explained very well."

Eve Whitney, one of Ironside's team, played by Barbara Anderson, was this society babe who helped Ironside with a case where she demonstrated she had "great powers of observation." As a result of this, Ironside seemingly got her a job on the police force without her having to do the usual number of going to the police academy. In the pilot episode, you see her naked from the back ... I dunno what is going on here, it's like she is a stripper or a hooker or something as well as a well educated dame. And there is no indication that when she appears naked she is on a case at the time (prior to getting the job with Ironside).

[ringfire211]

I think Raymond Burr is the albatross in both shows, pulling them down. He’s just a boring screen presence. I like courtroom dramas. My favorite is MATLOCK and the big reason is Andy Griffith! Perry Mason vs MATLOCK is like night and day. One puts you to sleep while the other makes you perk right up! There’s just no comparison.

[Mr. Mike]

I wanted to experience Perry Mason for an infamous "ending," so I grabbed a random box set of Perry out of the library.

I couldn't believe that I actually almost figured out "who did it" in this one episode I watched.

Of course, there was only one speaking character other than the usual people in the show, that sort of narrowed things down for me...

I can't believe how much smoking there is in this series from Mason and Drake. As well, Mason really yelled a lot in the show I watched when he was in the courtroom with Burger.

My reviews of Ironside are continuing, but this is a tough slog. Check out this review (there are some mistakes in the grammar, etc. which I will fix soon):

http://ironsidetv.com/ironside-1.htm#26

A friend of mine told me that Perry Mason inspired him to become a lawyer. But he also mentioned another legal show starring James Whitmore which had the same effect: The Law and Mr. Jones.